Bloomberg reports that Gold Fields is having to sneak maintenance teams into its South Deep mine after protesters shot at vehicles trying to enter the site, where workers have been on strike since 2 November 2018.
Small teams of essential workers are using secret entrances to enter the mine and sometimes have to be smuggled in during the night to pump water, monitor equipment and undertake general maintenance work, said company spokesperson Sven Lunsche. Protesters fired live ammunition at vehicles trying to enter South Deep and petrol bombs were recovered at one of the shaft entrances, the company stated. Workers embarked on a strike at the mine to protest against the company’s plans to cut more than 1,500 jobs. Kanetso Matabane, branch chairman for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which represents about 80% of the employees at the mine, said workers were not responsible for the violence. The union’s members will press on with the strike until an agreement on job cuts was reached, he indicated.
- Read the full original report at Mining Weekly
- Read too, National NUM intervenes in Gold Fields impasse amid ongoing violence, at Fin24
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